I started this bag in response to a tutorial on Making Zen but in the process of making it I deviated from the original plan.
I didn’t think to take in-progress photos but I will briefly describe the process. I took a scrap of denim that I had left over from making a pair of pants into a skirt. I cut a scrap of fleece the size of the body of the bag (without the flap). Then I started improvising sewing on embellishments and stitching. I wanted to practice some newly learned/revisited stitches. The design process went through many iterations, adding things and then taking them away. The words are from a project from the early 90s in which I wrote a poem using words cut out from magazines and then printed that on a tee shirt. I had saved just that part of the tee shirt all these years(!) Finally, I sewed in the lining, made from a scrap of chambray, and stitched the side seams and flap edge and added the strap.
This is such a thoughtful piece, and I love that the words come from a poem you saved for decades. There’s something really moving about reusing a fragment that’s been with you that long, it adds a layer of meaning that you can’t fake with new materials.
The improvised approach really comes through too, the design feels alive rather than over-planned. I find that’s usually when my own embroidery turns out best, when I let myself add and remove freely as I go instead of sticking rigidly to a sketch.
Quick question if you don’t mind, did the fleece backing make stitching through the denim a lot easier on the hand ? I keep meaning to try interlining when I work on heavier fabrics but always forget, and the bag holds its shape really nicely in your photos.
Thank you for your kind comments. The person who did the original tutorial used something else for backing; I can’t remember what, exactly–maybe batting? I don’t have batting but I had that scrap of fleece and it was great in exactly the ways you describe–comfortable to sew and adding body to the piece. I don’t have a lot of experience with embroidery but I enjoyed this.
